Tuponia (Tuponia) elegans ( Jakovlev, 1867 )

Carapezza, Attilio & Rădac, Ioan Alexandru, 2021, The genus Tuponia Reuter, 1875 in Romania, with two new synonymies (Heteroptera: Miridae), Zootaxa 5023 (1), pp. 59-76 : 66-68

Tuponia (Tuponia) elegans ( Jakovlev, 1867)

( Figs. 4B , 5 H–M , 9 )

Material examined: ROMANIA: Bacău County: Bacău, 46.548967°N 26.895333°E, 22.vii.2019, 1 ♂ 3 ♀♀, on Tamarix sp .; Constanța County: Constanța, 44.170797°N 28.662722°E, 20.vi.2017, 1 ♂, on Tamarix sp. ; Vadu , 44.470155°N 28.810075°E, 20.vi.2017, 5 ♂♂, 6 ♀♀, on Tamarix sp. ; Giurgiu County: Giurgiu, 43.899910°N 25.967926°E, 15.vii.2018, 3 ♀♀, on Tamarix ramosissima ; Ialomița County: Slobozia, 44.563620°N 27.381955°E, 20.vi.2017, 1 ♂ 1 ♀, on Tamarix sp. ; Vâlcea County: Drăgășani, 44.657973°N 24.270541°E, 15.vii.2018, 1 ♂ 4 ♀♀ on Tamarix ramosissima .

Diagnosis. Tuponia elegans is recognized by the following combination of characters: dorsally ( Fig. 4B ) whitish with more or less extended bright red areas in mesoscutum, scutellum, and in a large transverse band occupying the posterior third of clavus and corium; body length 2.6–3.3 mm in males, 2.8–3.7 mm in females; body elongate ovate in both sexes; ocular index 1.4–1.6 in males, 1.7–1.9 in females; genitalia ( Figs. 5H–M ): right paramere ( Fig. 5H ) short, subovoid, apically pointed; left paramere ( Fig. 5I–J ) broad, with very small sensory lobe and pointed apical process; phallotheca (Fig. K) with a subapical tooth and a single preapical semicircular lamellate keel; vesica ( Figs. 5L–M ) with secondary gonopore at the bifurcation of the two apical processes, the lower one longer than the prevailingly membranous upper one, the latter apically bifurcated

Easily separated from other European species of subgen. Tuponia by its contrasting bright red and whitish dorsal areas.

Distribution and biology. Euro-Central Asian element known from Eastern Europe ( Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Moldavia, Ukraine, Macedonia, Bulgaria, southern Russia), Asian Turkey, Transcaucasia, Iran, Central Asia, Mongolia, north-western and north-eastern China ( Kerzhner & Josifov 1999; Aukema 2018–2021). The species lives on various species of Tamarix ( Benedek & Jaszai 1968; Drapolyuk 1980; Linnavuori 2010; Li & Liu 2016).

Comment. This is the first record for Romania. Distribution in Romania is shown in Fig. 9 .

Figures

FIGURE 4. Habitus of Tuponia (Tuponia) spp.: A: T. (T.) arcufera Reuter, 1879: female from Armenia (3.4 mm) male from Iran (3.6 mm), ACPI; B T. (T.) elegans (Jakovlev, 1867): male from Armenia (3.2 mm), ACPI. (Photos by A. Carapezza)

FIGURE 5. Male genitalia of Tuponia (Tuponia) spp.: A–M: T. (T.) arcufera Reuter, 1879: A right paramere, B–C left paramere in different views, D phallotheca in dorsal view, E phallotheca in ventral view, F vesica in lateral view, G apex of vesica; H–M: T. (T.) elegans (Jakovlev, 1867): H right paramere, I–J left paramere in different views, K phallotheca in ventral view, L vesica in lateral view, M apex of vesica. Scale bar: 0.1 mm for Figs. A–F and H–K, 0.05 mm for Figs. G and M. (Original)

FIGURE 9. Distribution of Tuponia (Tuponia) arcufera Reuter, 1879, T. (T.) elegans (Jakovlev, 1867) and Tuponia (T.) montandoni Reuter, 1899 in Romania.